13 & 14 December 2023, KBC Brussels

KBC organizes for the second time an exclusive 2-day Winter School for a selected group of PhD candidates  and postdocs of the 5 Flemish universities.

Focus of this year’s edition: an interdisciplinary case competition to solve real-world Environmental, Social and Governance problems defined by Umicore, Janssen Pharmaceutica and KBC.

It is no longer possible to participate in the case competition.

It is still possible to come and listen to the many inspirational talks offered by KBC employees. Please, register before 27 November 2023.

This call aims at PhD candidates (≥ 3rd year of their PhD trajectory) and postdocs of the 5 Flemish universities (and beyond) who

a) want to get an inside view of the corporate world, and reflect on labour market trends and challenges, corporate social responsibility (CSR), company culture, …;
b) want to learn from PhDs coming from different academic backgrounds why they decided to transfer to the corporate world, which competences they brought to the work floor, and which competences still needed further developing;
c) want to expand their professional network.

Check out the full programme here. For the biographies of the speakers and the abstracts of the sessions, click here.

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Why participate in the case competition?

1. You want to apply your knowledge and ideas to real-world ESG challenges.
2. You want to challenge yourself as part of an interdisciplinary team of PhD candidates and postdocs coming from different fields of expertise and different universities, to help you give your CV a competitive edge.
3. You want to get an inside view of the corporate world, and reflect on labour market trends and challenges, corporate social responsibility (CSR), company culture, …
4. You want to learn from PhDs coming from different academic backgrounds why they decided to transfer to the corporate world, which competences they brought to the work floor, and which competences still needed further developing. See full programme here.
5. You want to expand your professional network.

KBC puts great emphasis on diversity, on diverse teams and diverse expertise to solve problems in a sustainable way, and therefore welcomes early-stage researchers from all research backgrounds.

What to expect?

• Three real life cases by Umicore, Janssen Pharmaceutica and KBC to be solved in teams of five PhD candidates and postdocs.
• Cases will be disclosed in the course of October 2023.
  • Case by Umicore -> view here.
  • Case by Janssen Pharmaceutica -> view here.
  • Case by KBC -> view here.
• 100 PhD candidates and postdocs from the Flemish universities will be selected to participate and form teams to work on the cases as of November 2023.
• End of November, team presentations will have to be submitted and participants will have to make their personal selection of workshops and lectures as offered by KBC.
• 13 and 14 December at KBC HQ in Brussels – see full programme here. For the biographies of the speakers and the abstracts of the sessions – click here.
• 13 December 2023 the jury will decide on the top team proposals.
• 14 December 2023, the top teams will pitch their case ideas after a training by Abigail Swillens.

Last year’s participants formed a Linkedin group that might be interesting for your reference.

The registration to participate in the case competition is CLOSED. Use the link above to register for attending the talks.

In case of questions, do not hesitate to reach out to the organizing team: phdtalent@vlir.be

Good luck!

Cancellations: Participation in the KBC Winter school is free of charge. However, if you cancel your registration after 4 December, we’ll charge a no-show fee of 150 euros. Only in case of illness, corroborated with a doctor’s note, you will not be charged the no-show fee.